Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Shares Down 1.2% – What’s Next?

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) dropped 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $48.78 and last traded at $49.09. Approximately 854,953 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 3,252,769 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Cameco Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 271.69 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Cameco Co. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.118 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 4.7% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,915,086 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,622,000 after purchasing an additional 176,183 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Cameco by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386,639 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Cameco by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,478,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,386,000 after acquiring an additional 410,711 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its stake in Cameco by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,268,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,326,000 after acquiring an additional 159,200 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Cameco by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,175,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $103,968,000 after acquiring an additional 187,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

About Cameco

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services.